Friday, October 9, 2009

Never Again? U.S. Senate hears "Chilling" testimony from Recent Veterans Akin to Gulf War Syndrome

(91 outcomes.blogspot.com - October 9, 2009) - In testimony before the U.S. Senate, recent veterans, family members, and survivors told "chilling" accounts of toxic substance exposures in Iraq, Afghanistan, and at U.S. military bases within the continental U.S.

A AP story tells the story's outlines and Bob O'Dowd, a Marine veteran with the Salem News, provides the details.

Among the hazards have been toxic burn pits in Balad, Iraq and throughout the military's overseas theaters of operation. Burn pits were also common in the 1991 Gulf War, Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Haiti, and other U.S. operations.

Another of the toxins the Senate heard about today was sodium dichromate, which blew in toxic "orange clouds" where U.S. troops were stationed at Qarmat Ali, Iraq. Some have sued military contractor KBR for having known about the toxin but not warned troops of its health hazard.

Rhyming with DoD tactics with regards to Gulf War Syndrome and Agent Orange, a DoD (USCHHPM) report goes into detail about tests done too late to determine anything about troops' exposures, yet used by DoD to suggest there's nothing to worry about, no reason for fear, no way anyone could be sick, and if they are, there's no reason to believe it could possibly be related to troops' toxic exposures.

Another of the hazards heard today in the U.S. Senate was toxic solvents that were in drinking water at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina, a base where a majority of U.S. Marines do their boot camp. A rash of rare breast cancer cases among male Marine veterans is believed to be associated with the subtly toxic drinking water. CNN's Sanjay Gupta provided special coverage on this issue.

Veterans of the 1991 Gulf War have long been concerned about "never again" allowing what happened to them to happen to future generations of veterans. Yet, the U.S. Department of Defense was found to have done little if anything for this newest generation of veterans suffering from cancers and chronic multi-symptom illness, akin to veterans' experiences with Gulf War Syndrome from 1991 through to the present day.

About 91outcomes

91outcomes.com is a health and news website for veterans of the 1991 Gulf War.

The health outcomes of the 1991 Gulf War continue to profoundly affect between one-fourth and one-third, according to official estimates, of the war’s nearly 700,000 U.S. veterans.

They also affect innumerable fellow veterans from our Coalition partners, including the UK, Australia, Canada, and the Czech Republic, to name just a few.

The aim of 91outcomes.com is to provide fellow Gulf War veterans and their caregivers, advocates, and loved ones, with a credible source of information for health information on Gulf War Illness and other news, all in one place, some of which isn't available anywhere else.

***

About Me

Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Anthony Hardie, the publisher and editor of 91outcomes.com. I created 91outcomes.com in 2009** because I'm also one of the 250,000 veterans of the 1991 Gulf War afflicted by Gulf War Illness, and this is what I choose to do to help my fellow Gulf War veterans. Of course, there's much more that remains to be done -- please feel free to jump in and help however you may see fit to fill those many gaps.

I've been continuously active as a national advocate on Gulf War and other veterans' issues since 1995, shortly after my honorable discharge after seven years of U.S. Army service that included serving in the 1991 Gulf War and Somalia. Later, in part because of that advocacy work, I was selected to be a Congressional aide, and then a veterans’ affairs state agency executive. If you're really interested, you can read more about me on my Google profile.

I also do my best to to help my fellow Gulf War veterans by serving as an affected veteran on the programmatic panel that leads and guides theGulf War Illness Research Program, part of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP). And, I'm a former longtime member of VA's Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses (RAC) and the VA’s Gulf War Illness [Research] Steering Committee. In my service on these panels, I do my very best to represent the many other ill and affected Gulf War veterans, including the readers of this website.

**NOTE: Much of the content on 91outcomes is "fair use" content archived for personal use and for single-site archival use by other Gulf War veterans. Articles dated prior to 2009 are archival in nature, and are pre-dated concurrent to the time noted in the article.

Google

Depleted Uranium (DU) in the Gulf

Disclaimer

The content contained herein was not prepared by medical professionals and it is not intended, nor should it be considered, as a substitute for medical advice.

The information provided on this website is intended as educational material, designed solely to support, and not replace, the relationship that exists between a patient/site visitor and his/her healthcare professional.

The material contained herein is general in nature and may not apply to your particular factual or legal circumstances.

Online readers should not act on this information without seeking professional counsel and advice.